Edinburgh Film Festival 2009: line-up anouncement

The 2009 Edinburgh line-up has been announced. Time Out takes a peek at what's in store...

The wait is finally over film fans, the Edinburgh International Film Festival (which, naturally, Time Out will be covering in excruciating detail) today announced its 2009 programme – and it’s a cracker. Kicking off proceedings on 17 June is Sam Mendes’s much-anticipated first foray into all-out comedy with ‘Away We Go’ which was penned by Dave Eggers and follows hot on the heels of his sombre adaptation of Richard Yates’s ‘Revolutionary Road’. The international premier of ‘Adam’, the romantic feature debut from director Max Mayer will close the festival 11 days down the line on 28 June.

The hyper-creative Stephen Soderbergh will be there with his new DV experiment ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ which – controversially – acts as a star vehicle for porn actress Sasha Grey. Festival favourite David Mackenzie (‘Hallam Foe’, ‘Young Adam’) returns with his new one, ‘Spread’, in which Hollywood toyboy/prankster Ashton Kutcher assumes the lead role. And Shane Meadows, white hot after the double-successes of ‘This Is England’ and ‘Somers Town’, will oversee the world premiere of ‘Le Donk’, starring Paddy Considine as a past-it rapper.

There will also be in-depth interviews with the Oscar-nominated director of ‘The Wrestler’, Darren Aronofsky, as well as Scottish writer-director Bill Forsyth and award-winning actress Brenda Blethyn. There will also be an on-stage appearance from veteran director Roger Corman who will introduce an EIFF retrospective of his work.

With 135 features from 33 countries, delicacies from the international smorgasbord include double gangster biopic ‘Mesrine’, starring French stalwart Vincent Cassel as the infamous French gangster. Carlos Cuarón will also present his ‘Rudo y Cursi’, a likeable, Mexican-set sports comedy with a subtle social subtext which reunites Gael García Bernal and Diego Luna following their breakthrough together in 2001’s ‘Y Tu Mama Tambien’.

The EIFF also proudly pays homage to homegrown talent in the British Gala Strand. Ones to watch out for are ‘Fish Tank’ from ‘Red Road’ director Andrea Arnold, and ‘Moon’ starring Sam Rockwell, which sees Duncan James making his intriguing directorial debut.

The stuff of fiction? Not necessarily, as the EIFF is set to showcase more than 20 non-fiction features. Audiences can look forward to the World Premiere of ‘No Greater Love’ by Michael Whyte and 'Garapa' by Jose Padilha, the director of ‘Elite Squad’, to name but two.

Irrepressible cineaste Mark Cousins will also be back on his old stomping ground to present one of the more interesting and innovative festival retrospectives in recent memory. He will curate the Paradise Movie Hall in which seven classics of Bengali cinema will be screened.

With 23 World Premieres, the sixty-third edition of the Edinburgh International Film Festival promises a vibrant programme with a keen emphasis on innovation and emerging talent, as well as a hearty dose of established local and international talent. Book tickets at www.edfilmfest.org.uk

---